Del Mar sets regent deadline

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Del Mar College Board of Regents has set an Aug. 22 deadline for those interested in applying for the District 1 seat vacated by Linda Garcia last week.

Garcia, whose eligibility to run for the seat last November was under investigation, resigned Aug. 1, stating in a resignation letter that she had accepted a job outside of the city. Del Mar regents at Tuesday's called meeting accepted the resignation.

The applicant must be a District 1 resident and a registered voter. Board President Chris Adler said no timeline has been set for when regents seek to fill the seat.

Adler said Tuesday no one yet was in the running for the seat, but former District 1 regent and board president Gabriel Rivas -- who was unseated by Garcia and spurred District Attorney Carlos Valdez's investigation -- said Tuesday he planned to apply.

"I'm definitely interested in returning," Rivas said.

Rivas submitted Garcia's application to run for the seat and her March statement of residency to Valdez's office in January. The documents, Valdez said, contained contradictory information on her stated home address.

While the candidacy application contained a District 1 address, the statement of residency showed a Kingsville address.

Valdez did not return phone calls Tuesday. The regent who replaces Garcia will fill the seat until 2012, the next time it is up for election.

The board's last vacancy came when District 5 Regent Bill Chriss resigned in July 2006 to pursue a fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin.

Regents called for that seat to be filled by a special election, held last November.